Future Forum: Mayoral Debate

Debate with Santa Cruz mayoral candidates.

5/14/20262 min read

Wow Future Forum friends!

That was our biggest forum yet! Thanks for turning up and getting political with us!


We are thrilled with the level of civic engagement from all of you and the level of care you all have for our community. We have an important choice to make going forward around the leadership of our city. But no matter who wins the mayoral race, we need an engaged public to shape Santa Cruz into a resilient and regenerative place.

Event Outcome

Ami Chen Mills was the favorite, with both the most favorites and the most total points.

Calculated on the rubric, we received 16 top scores for Amy Chen and 1 for each of the other candidates with a total of 20 responses. For context, we had ~70 attendees and some abstained from handing in their survey because they wished to gather more information.


The total points were as follows (important to note that some people left rubric areas blank)

  • Ami Chen Mills 272 (4.18 Average, 4.2 Regeneration, 4.1 Policy, 4.0 Experience, 4.4 resilience)

  • Ryan Coonerty 219 (3.46 Average, 3.46 Regen, 3.5 Policy, 3.7 Exp, 3.6 Res)

  • Jillian Greensite 188 (3.12 Average, 3.5 Regen, 2.9 Policy, 2.8 Exp, 3.2 Res)

  • Joy Schendeldecker 181 (3.08 Average, 3.4 Regen, 3.2 Policy, 2.8 Exp, 2.9 Res)

  • Chris Krohn 162 (3.04 Average, 3.1 Regen, 3.1 Policy, 3.0 Exp, 2.9 Res)


Some topics candidates mentioned in their talks and Written Responses

  • Ami Chen Mills - tax penalties for long-vacant commercial spaces; charter amendment banning offshore drilling; ban surveillance cameras (founder of Get the Flock Out); organic/regenerative farming tourism destination; Doughnut Economics adoption; composting program expansion + single-use plastics ban; redirect city loans from Joby-scale defense contractors to local storefronts.

  • Ryan Coonerty - local small business ecosystem (Bookshop SC, NextSpace model); Central Coast Community Energy / clean energy access; infill housing + transit corridors; Cotoni/Coast Dairies monument preservation; old library site food hub + affordable housing. Interested in a data dashboard for the city.

  • Gillian Greensite - protecting industrial lands for higher-wage job creation; rebalancing city budget (Parks Dept was cut 30% while Economic Development doubled); tracking whether new housing actually serves local workers vs. attracting newcomers; helping draft the Rights of Nature ordinance for Santa Cruz; no surveillance cameras.

  • Joy Schendledecker - permanently affordable housing + cooperative/community-owned enterprises; ending all local ICE cooperation + restricting private actors; Rights of Nature enforceable frameworks; public land for regenerative farming leases; eliminating corporate surveillance tech entirely.

  • Chris Krohn - Department of Housing + Housing Commission (renters/landlords/data); Santa Cruz branding around organic/cannabis/regenerative ag; bring back Park Rangers program; public banking + community land trusts; Life Lab/community gardens on city property; eliminating glyphosate/pesticides.

What’s Next

  1. Written Responses - To better inform your vote, we highly recommend you read the candidates written reponses to FF questions.

  2. NPR Story - NPR covered the event, we’ll be sharing coverage in a follow up email.

  3. Get Political - Please chat with your friends about the mayoral options and feel free to share these resources

  4. VOTE - Get registered and VOTE by June 2nd! See you at the polls :)


Future Forum - Other Resources

If you want more goodness in between events, join our whatsapp.

Check out awesome projects our members are working on on our fresh new website.

Curious about the doughnut dashboard that was mentioned created by Joe? Check it out